Boiler regulator



June 14 1927.

C. A. FRENCH ET AL BOILER REGULATOR Filed June 8, 1922 \o O o W W Ewen/@0725. OhcviflflFren c/ l l m 6 6115,

Patented Jun 14,1927.

quNrrEn STATES 1,632,125 PATENT oFF cE CHARLES A. FRENCH AKNJJ LAURAN CE E. GOIT, OE CHICAGO, ILLI NOIS, AS SIGNORS TO INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER'COMPANY; OF CHICAGO, ILLINOTS, A CDRPOBATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Application fi'led June 8,

dur invention relates to boiler re ulators and particularly to a safety device or controlling and .indicating the amount 01:: water in a boiler and governing the superheat in 5 the steam. In automotive steam boilers, the amount of Water in the system is very small relative to the steaming capacity of the boiler and size ot the burner, the operating temperature and pressure are very high as compared with stationary power plants and the load and demand for steam fluctuate rapidly between very wide limits. These operating conditions make the control and regulation of automotive boilers very difiicult and no thoroughly reliable means has heretofore been devised.

Our invention relates to a means for automaticallysupplying additional water to a boiler when the supply gets. below normal and embodies ,a means for visibly indicating the amount of water in the boiler and,-if

the suppl should fall so low that there is danger o injury to the boiler, the burner will be shut oii until the trouble is located and repaired. The regulator is applicable for use with flash boilers in which there is no storage drum containing a body of water as well as toboilers of other types in which water is maintained at a fixed level.

80 Referring to the'drawings in which like parts are indicated by the same reference characters in the several views:

p Fig. 1is a vertical section of our improved regulator connected in the steam line from a boiler;

Fig. 2 is a modified form of regulator adapted for use with boilers having a storage drum or in which water is maintained at a fixed level. v v The regulator shown in Fig. 1 1s partlcularly adapted for use with a boiler that generates steam having a high degree of superheat such as disclosed in the cope-nding application of Charles A. French, Serial No.

566,710 filed June 8, 1922. A jacket 7 is connected in the steam main so that steam enters through the connection 8 and leaves through the pipe 9 on its way tothe engine. Within the jacket is a bulb 10 containing a liquid that is vaporizable at the temperature of superheated steam from the boiler. A tube 11 extends downward from the bulb .and is connected at its lower end to a diaphragm chamber 12 divided by the dia- 5 phragm 13 into an upper chamber14 comby a nut 31.

BOILER REGULATOR.

1922. Serial No. 566,885.

the bonnet and at the other end on an ad-- justing nut 22. A diaphragm 23 is clamped at its edges between the bonnet and body 24 of a Water supply valve and at its center is secured to the rod by a nut 25. The valve body 24 has an inlet 26 leading from an auxiliary supply of water'and an outlet 27v discharging into a hot-well or to the intake of a feed pump. A valve 28 is normally held to its seat in the body 24 by a spring 29 and controls the flow of water therethrough. The diaphragm 13 is ,preferably madefr'om steel and has an annular corrugation which gives it greater flexibility and eflection and is secured in the casing by welding its edges thereto at 30 and is further clamped tightly against the casing head The bracket 20 supports a graduated sector 32 on which is pivoted an arm 33, one end of which carries a pointer 34 and the other end of which engages under the head 17.

to close the valve 38 and shut ofi the su ply The sector 3 is graduated so that'the position of the pointer of fuel to the-burner.

A link 35 is connected to the arm 33 atone end and at its other end to a 34 indicates the temperature condition of the steam from the boiler.

'The valve 28 is normally seated so that filling opening 41 witlna liquid such as 211- cohol while the upper chamber 14 and bulb 10 are filled through the plug 42 with a j The liquid that will vaporize under low pressure at thetemperature of the superheated steam from the boiler. v v

The boiler yabove referred to generates steam at 5Q0 to 600 pounds pressure per til , squareineh and with 300 to 400 degrees of superheat, the temperature of the steam flowing through the jacket 7 being approximately 800 degrees F. The bulb 10 and chamber 14 are filled with mercury which waporizes at atmospheric pressure at 675 degrees F. and, at 800 degrees F., (the working temperature of the steam) vaporizes at a pressure of pounds per square inch. The load on the spring 21 is adjusted by the nut 22so that its resistance, together with that of spring 29 and diaphragms 23 and 13, will prevent deflection of the diaphragm 13 andexpansion of the corrugated tube until the tension of the mercury vapor exceeds 30 pounds, or, in other words, the valve 28 remains seated when the temperature of the steam does not exceed 800 degrees F. and the pressure of the mercury vapor does not exceed 30 pounds per square inch. If water is being supplied to the boiler at a less rate than ste m is being formed, the superheat will iricrease and' when the steam temperature reaches 830 degrees F., the pressure of the mercury vapor. will have increased to pounds and the valve 28 will be opened but the trip lever 36 will not have been rocked T far enough to release the arn 37. However, t the auxiliary supply of water is not suflicient to restore the boiler to normal operating conditions, the" temperature of the steam will continue to rise and when it reaches 860 degrees F., the pressure of the mercury vapor will have increased to pounds per square inch and the expansion of the corrugated tube willbe suflicient to cause the release of the trip arm 37 and shut off the burner. The operating medium of this thermostat or regulator is mercury which has definite boiling temperatures and ,pressures and, since it is sealed in a steel receptacle, it can be vaporized and condensed an infinite 'number of times with-" out loss or change in its physical properties. Recent tests have shown that the corrugated tube may be expanded and contracted more than 100,000,000 times without suffering" any apparent deterioration and, since there is but one adjustment to be made in the device, that of the spring 21, the regulator should be practicallyfiindestructible and always expand in the same manner under definite pressure and temperature conditions. A movement of of an inch is permissible i the smallest size of corrugated tube so that this thermostat is not limited by the disabilities of the usual bi-metal thermostat with its microscopic movement,

great size and inherent tendency to buckle, warp and take a permanent set at the temperature at which our invention may operate.

In Fig. 2 we have illustrated a regulator adapted for use with boilers in which water is maintained at a fixed level. The jacket 44 has a lateral opening 45 for connection to the boiler at the water line and an opening 46 for connection to the boiler below the water line so that a bulb 47 projecting upward into the casing is submerged when the water stands at its normal level. The bulb 47 and a corrugated tube 48 are filled with alcohol or other liquid that is vaporizable at the temperature of the steam corresponding to boiler pressure. A bracket 49 connected to the jacket 44 supports the valve 24 and indicator 32, 33 which are the same as the corresponding parts in Fig. 1 and bear the same reference characters. The entire bulb 47 is immersed when the water is at its normal level in the boiler and, since there is no active circulation through the jacket, the temperature of the water and bulb will be somewhat below that of the water and steam in the boiler, but when the water level falls to expose the bulb, steam entering through the connection 45 will vaporize the liquid in the bulb causing the corrugated tube to expandand open the valve 28 to restore the water level. The regulator of Fig. 2 operates similarly to that of Fig. 1 except that onlyone liquid is employed. It the bulb 47 is filled with mercury or some other liquid that waporizes at high temperature, the modified regulator of Fig. 2 would be adapted foruse with high pressure boilers and boilers of the flash type having a high degree of superheat in the same man ner-that the regulator of Fig. 1 'is used:

\Vliile we have shown the indicator arm 33 in both Figs. 1 and 2 and the burner con- 'trol connected theretoin Fig. 1, either or both of these connections may be omitted under suitable with certain types of boilers. Also the thermostatic elements (bulb and corrugated tube) may be used to operate only a visible indicator or alarm and for many other usethe easing into an upper chamber communicating with the bulb and a lower chamber, an. expansion element' filled with fluid in communication with the lower chamber, and control means adapted to'be actuated in one direction by the expansion element when the fluid in the bulb expands and in the opposite direction when the fluid contracts.

operating conditions and" 2. In a regulator, the combination of a 1 jacket, connections leading to and from the jacket, a bulb therein filled with an expansible fluid, a casing, a diaphragm dividing the easing into an upper chamber communieating with the bulb and a lower chamber, a corrugated tube filled with fluid, one end of the tube being closed by a head and the other end in communication with the lower chamber, valve actuating means engaging the head and movable in one direction by expansion of the corrugated tube and movable in the opposite direction on contraction of the tube.

3. In a regulator, the combination of a jacket, connections leading to and from the jacket, a bulb therein filled with an expansible fluid, a casing, a diaphragm dividing thecasing into an upper chamber communicating with the bulb and a lower chamber, a corrugated tube filled with fluid, one end of the tube being closed by a head and the other end in communication with the lower chamber, valve actuating means engaging the head and movable in one direction by expansion of the corrugated tube, and adjustable means independent of the head for moving the valve actuating means in the opposite direction when the tube contracts.

at. In a regulator, the combination of a jacket, connections leading to and from the jacket, a bulb therein filled with an expansible fluid, a casing, a diaphragm dividing the easing into an upper chamber communicating with the bulb and a lower chamber, a corrugated tube filled with fluid, one end of the tube being closed by a head and the other end in communication with the lower chamber, a pivoted lever loosely engaging casing, an expansion element in the casin said element having a head, a valve inclu 'ing a stem loosely engaging the head, a

lever also loosely engaging the head, a supply pipe including a throttle valve, con nections between the lever and throttle valve, and means independentof the head for returning the lever and valve stem to normal position after the expansion element has displaced them.

6. In a regulator, the combination of a casing, an expansion element containing an expansible fluid extending into the casing, said element having a head, a bracket on the casing, a graduated sector on the bracket, a lever pivoted intermediately of its ends to the bracket, one end of said lever engaging the head of the expansion element, and a supply pipe having a throttle valve therein connected to the other end of said lever, said end of the lever also serving as an indicator for the graduated sector.

In testimony whereof we afix our signatures,

enemies A. reason. LAURANCE E. coir, 

